Litespeed Ti, full XTR, King rear hub for sale (and question)

Also- any guesses on the model? I'm not sure on the model name, would be good to know. Any litespeed experts?

It's in the mtbr ads. I believe it's a litespeed (that's what the previous owner told me, anyway), and the welds look beautiful, so it's certainly their level of quality. Full XTR components, Mavic crossride front, King rear hub. It's setup as a single speed, but could take a standard cassette. If interested I could throw in an XTR rear derailleur as well. New rear cog (Surly). I put on some Specialized Fast Trak tires (unlike the ones in the ad).

It's got a couple very minor dents that don't affect anything, not on the welds, etc. Been there a while, no problems, but it makes me leery of listing on eBay, since it sets me up for a scammer- would rather sell locally. Round 19 pounds without pedals (according to bathroom scale). Pics in the ad.

True, fair enough- I was told it was a Litespeed. It just came without any logos or anything, so I took the sellers word when I got it. Just being 100% open about it. It's a sweet ride, sure feels good.

edit: seems like people are pretty stoked on those custom Ti's. That's pretty cool. At least till I got to the nationalistic rantings...

Hey, did you buy that thing?
Something looks wrong! The weld on the head tube looks like a mess! Also, the decal looks off...
The geo also looks a bit off... It looks a bit old school. If it is an older bike, I think it's bogus. Litespeed is from SC right...east coast? The older east coast bike builders used to build them steep and tight to dice thru their techy rooty and super tight trails...ref Fat City Cycles, IF, and Merlins (IIRC are from Mass?). For a contrast, the older west coast builders used to make them stretchy and slack to deal w/ the speeds of the more open trail and fire roads. This thing carries the branding of the east coast, but the geo of a west coast bike.
Just my take. Feel free to call me crazy

Yeah, bought it used and built it up with a combo of stuff that came with it and stuff I bought.

The headtube welds are great, I think you're just seeing a bit of glare in the photo? Dunno, the pic is pretty small. Dumb mtbr size limits.

I had some decals to put on, and since he said it was a litespeed, I put them on (I have a ton of random bike stickers). That's why I said it was new decals in the post, and (mainly) why I want to be clear I'm not the original owner... Guy said it was custom made for a place in Canada, which could explain the different look, but I don't know eastern Canadian riding (I'm from west coast originally, and this is NOT a north shore bike. ha.).

Anyway, it doesn't feel super steep, although it's definitely not slack. I don't have a pic of the serial number right now (although I could get one), but it's in sort of a cursive style, not a standard stamp. I think litespeed is Kentucky, yeah. Hmmm...

BTW, it's still an awesome ride! But if I can get the correct model etc it would satisfy some curiosity.

Yeah, bought it used and built it up with a combo of stuff that came with it and stuff I bought.

I had some decals to put on, and since he said it was a litespeed, I put them on (I have a ton of random bike stickers). That's why I said it was new decals in the post, and (mainly) why I want to be clear I'm not the original owner... Guy said it was custom made for a place in Canada, which could explain the different look, but I don't know eastern Canadian riding (I'm from west coast originally, and this is NOT a north shore bike. ha.).

Anyway, it doesn't feel super steep, although it's definitely not slack. I don't have a pic of the serial number right now (although I could get one), but it's in sort of a cursive style, not a standard stamp. I think litespeed is Kentucky, yeah. Hmmm...

BTW, it's still an awesome ride! But if I can get the correct model etc it would satisfy some curiosity.

I gotcha now...
I wonder if Litespeed would be able to tell you anything w/ that serial?

It's obviously an older model bike, jeez. Similar size and bead to moots (for instance, it's not moots). Perhaps a bit more protruded, but no variation I would consider out of the ordinary for a hand done frame.

Of course thats cleaner and a much better picture, no glare, etc.

edit- you changed your picture. Makes more sense now. Anyway, the welds aren't as odd as they look, there's some glare in the image. They look much better than a lot of welds I've seen on frames. I'll try and get better pictures if you're really concerned about butter on frames.

Over the years, they've made a lot of frames for other "manufacturers" but the models they sell themselves typically have cutout dropouts. If that is a Litespeed, it's most likely a very low-end model with straightgauge tubes, which essentially makes it no better than any one of a dozen other manufacturers' offerings.

If you check the ad, even the seller admits he's not sure it's a Litespeed and it was probably made as a special batch for a local shop. If so, it wouldn't have come with Litespeed decals, which could account for how an old bike has new decals.

Over the years, they've made a lot of frames for other "manufacturers" but the models they sell themselves typically have cutout dropouts. If that is a Litespeed, it's most likely a very low-end model with straightgauge tubes, which essentially makes it no better than any one of a dozen other manufacturers' offerings.

If you check the ad, even the seller admits he's not sure it's a Litespeed and it was probably made as a special batch for a local shop. If so, it wouldn't have come with Litespeed decals, which could account for how an old bike has new decals.

Someone could've taken any old ti frame and put new decals on it.

It's my ad, I'm not "admitting" anything, rather disclosing- the decals are definitely newer (hence "the decals are new".) Just trying to figure it out. The guy I bought it from said the same thing, basically- litespeed made special for a Canadian shop. Lots of the parts are newer, I put them on myself. I'm betting the XTR parts are the same age as the frame, but that's just a hunch based on talking to the original guy, which puts it around 2003.

Anyway, I don't know much about Ti manufacturing- how are Ti straight gauge tubes worse than their standard, assuming this is a fairly old frame (no disc mounts on the rear, so probably pre-2003)?

It's my ad, I'm not "admitting" anything, rather disclosing- the decals are definitely newer (hence "the decals are new".) Just trying to figure it out. The guy I bought it from said the same thing, basically- litespeed made special for a Canadian shop. Lots of the parts are newer, I put them on myself. I'm betting the XTR parts are the same age as the frame, but that's just a hunch based on talking to the original guy, which puts it around 2003.

Anyway, I don't know much about Ti manufacturing- how are Ti straight gauge tubes worse than their standard, assuming this is a fairly old frame (no disc mounts on the rear, so probably pre-2003)?

I assumed you were asking about the bike 'cause you were thinking of buying it, didn't realize you were the seller. Anyway, since you're not the original owner and can't confirm the manufacturer, AND there are questions as to whether it's really a Litespeed or not, I personally wouldn't market it as a Litespeed.

Having said that, if you want to confirm it, you could always just contact Litespeed, give them the serial number, and have them check it out.

Well, I hope it's fairly clear I'm not sure. But, as I mention earlier in the thread- I have no reason to doubt the guy I bought it from. That said, since I'm not the original owner, I inserted that caveat into the ad, and started this thread. And, I have contacted litespeed, and all they said is it's not a standard production run, but since this was always a special run sort of deal, that doesn't really mean anything.

UPDATE: I finally got confirmation. There's a shop in Ontario, Silent Sports, that had a Litespeed special line called "The Thin Blue Line Ti," and they believe this is one of those. So for anybody still interested, that was what I finally found out. According to them, there were quite a few models of that name, including some FS, but the titanium hardtails were litespeed-made.